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The Early Church, Pentecost to 311AD
During the first century, the formal church began in Jerusalem and started to spread outward through various evangelists who traveled and proclaimed the gospel in the surrounding areas around Jerusalem. Certainly the most well known apostle of this time was Paul, and his work spread the gospel throughout the Mediterainian area in what is now modern day Turkey. Early Authority in the Jerusalem Church The first examples of authority within the church are founded upon the eleven disciples of Jesus and others who were close to or around Jesus during his time on earth. In Acts 2 we see the explosive growth of the church after pentecost and as their community grew the people looked to Jesus' disciples as their leaders. There was no formal leadership or formal constraints around this growing community that was marked by faith in Jesus as the messiah, and the depiction of shared living and shared devotion to God in Acts 2:42-47 shows that authority was organic. Introduction of Formalized Structure The natural community formed in Acts 2 did not last long in its current state. By the events of Acts 6 there were significant problems growing within the church that caused the apostles to realize that the challenges they were facing were too much for them to handle and still be able to effectively preach the gospel. At this time seven men were chosen to serve and take the administration tasks away from the duties of the apostles. I Howard Marshall, '' Acts'' Tyndale New Testament Comentaries. (Downer's Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980), 134-135 The way that the seven administrators were chosen by the apostles serves as the earliest example of choosing new leadership. The apostles resolved that a team needed to be made, then the members of the church made their decision together,Ibid., 135. then the apostles ratified their decision and took an intentional time to pray over them and bless them before sending them out to complete their tasks. This model of leadership selection set in place the future practice of apostolic succession. The Council of Jerusalem The Council of Jerusalem was the first church council that came together specifically to deal with heretical teachings within the church. As the Christian church grew into the Gentile nations, the question arose wether or not Gentile believers must follow the Jewish laws. When Paul and Barnabas did not see fit for the new converts to be forced to undergo circumcision (Acts 15:1-2) the church of Antioch sent a deligation to Jerusalem to settle the matter. The implications of this council's decision are beyond the scope of this project, and instead the focus is on who was present and how the matter was decided. Once in Jerusalem, the two sides of the issue met together and the meeting was attended by the apostles and the elders (Acts 15:6-7). At this meeting after both the delegation from Antioch and Peter addressed the gathering of believers, James is the one who stands and reminds the council of Peter's vision and the writings of the prophets. What is important is the precident that this sets for all future councils of the church. All parties involved in the decision were present and put forth their arguments and reasoning. Then those present looked to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the way that God had been working and moving among the Gentiles (Acts 15:12) to influence the decision. Once the decision had been made, the apostles and elders along with the entire church in Jerusalem picked a deligation and sent them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas to deliver the letter from Jerusalem. While there is no official bishop or head figure of the church at this point, James serves as the moderator of the council and makes the motion towards a resolution once the invested parties have put forth their viewpoint. Therefore the authority of this time period largely came from the gathered fellowship of believers and reliance on the Holy Spirit's movement through their gathering. Separation of Christianity and Judaism The Council of Jerusalem was created to find resolution to a certain situation facing the early Church. At this time Christianity was largely seen as a subsect of Judaism. As a result of this the Christians received the same treatment from the Roman Empire as Judaism currently received. While this was not full protection, the Jewish people were free to assemble and practice their religion as long as they remained subserviant to Rome. After the Council of Jerusalem it became clear that the Christ followers were not suceeding in showing the Jewish people that Jesus was their Messiah as prophecied throughout the Hebrew scriptures. The Christian church was growing primarily with Gentile converts rather than Jewish converts. This reduction of Jewish influence in the church made it difficult for the Christian Church to continue to be viewed as part of Judaism. When Jewish nationalism began to rise and led to the revolts against Rome and the destruction of the temple in 72AD, the Christian Church sought to further distance themselves from Judaism. Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity. (New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 2010), 42-43. Once the Christian Church was viewed as a separate entity from Judaism, any protection granted to them promptly disappeared, leading to over two centuries of persecution by Rome. During this time authority within the church needed to be strengthened in order to prevent the fragmentation and destruction of the Christian Church. The people who constituted the early authority and leadership of the church were often in great danger. Two early bishops of the church, Ignatius and Polycarp, were both martyred for their faith. D. R. W. Wood and I. Howard Marshall, New Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 879. Early Apostolic Fathers Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp were three sucessive leaders in the chuch who all wrote epistles concerinig issues within the church. Although they originated from different churches, these three men all gave distinct leadership and authority to the Christian Church. During Clement's time as the Bishop of Rome he wrote a letter to the church of Corinth regarding issues of authority within their own local church. The Corinthian church had rejected their legitimately appointed presbyters and Clement addressed this issue by calling them back to following the principles of apostolic succession and submitting to the decisions made by their leadership. Ignatius was the third Bishop of Antioch in Syria and is known for his seven letters written to various churches. All of his letters contain a significant theme of calling the local churches to respect and submit to their presbyters and leadership. His writings often declared that the leaders of the local church carried divine authority and he felt that any church that was not willing to be sanctioned by or united with other churches was not a valid place of worship. Pope Clement I, Pope Clement I, Saint Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch et al., vol. 1,The Apostolic Fathers, ed. Pope Clement I, Saint Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna and Kirsopp Lake, The Loeb Classical Library (London; New York: Heinemann; Macmillan, 1912-13), 166. Polycarp was the Bishop of Smyrna during the early second century and is known for his Epistle to the Phillippians. While Iraneaus references many other writings of Polycarp, only this one letter has survived to today. Ibid., 280. This letter consisted mostly of warnings against apostasy, or political revolts or defection against Rome.A. S. Wood, "Apostasy" In , in New Bible Dictionary, ed. D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard et al., 3rd ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 57. Polycarp was eventually martyred in Rome during 155 A.D. Didache: The First Church Manual The Didache, (or 'Teaching of the Twelve') was a writing of the late first century that included instructions on how to live as a follower of Christ. Sections of the work dealt with topics such as fasting, baptism, prayer, communion, and leadership within the church. (See full article The Didache) End of the First Era When Constantine became Emperor of Rome in 311 and allowed for Christianity to be a protected religion this marked a new era for the Christian church. (Continue to The Imperial Church .) Works Cited Category:Eras of the Church